Start by carefully removing the main unit and the left side box. The box on the left holds all the tubing, which is attached to the aF4. Carefully open (or don't and just rip it off!) the top of the tubing box and pull the coiled tubing free, then slide the box off the length of tubing.

Open the lid of the aF4 and take out the cleaning tab and the tank mount. Set the tank mount aside, you'll be using it again in step 3.

Open the right side accessory box and remove the power supply, keep it handy - you'll need it for step 2.

Take the aF4 and the power supply to a sink. Rinse the reservoir with warm water and fill at least half way.

Take the GRAY tube and position it so the water will flow down the drain of a sink, alternatively you can use a large cup or bucket to catch the rinse water.

Take the black tube and place it into a large cup of water (12oz or more).

Plug in the aF4 and power it up. Press and hold the auto clean button until you hear the solenoids clicking (about 10 seconds). Let the cycle run until you hear 3 beeps.

Dump the water from the reservoir, and do one final feed now cycle to clear the remaining water from the system.

Place the aF4 within range of a power outlet and within 6 feet of where you'd like the food to be dispensed. Make sure to utilize a drip loop.

Mount the Tubing according to your aquariums configuration. The included mount is compatible with euro-braced aquariums and rimless aquariums.

If you'd like to set the aF4 up on a rimmed aquarium, you'll need a rimmed aquarium adapter.

You can also feed using the return pump in your sump, if you choose to use this method you can make it work with the included mount - however, our pump feed adapter really optimizes this process.

Feed Offset
This setting effects the time that the aF4 feeds the aquarium. By default, on the "0" setting, the aF4 will feed every day at the time you initially powered it up.
Example:
aF4 powered on at 3:00PM.

0 Offset - the aF4 will feed at 3:00 PM.
-4 Offset - the aF4 will feed at 11:00 AM.
-2 Offset - the aF4 will feed at 1:00 PM.
+2 Offset - the aF4 will feed at 5:00 PM
+4 Offset - the aF4 will feed at 7:00 PM.

If you'd like more control over the specific feed time, the ability to feed multiple times in a single day and trigger feeds remotely you can do that! You'll need to have an aquarium controller such as the Neptune Apex, GHL Profilux or the Coralview Hydros and our 0-10v control cable.

The aF4 is capable of feeding user selected quantities of food. The measurements are in milliliters.

The options are:
5mL * 10mL * 20mL * 30mL * 50mL
(5mL is just under a cube of food. Approximately equivalent to 65% to 85% of a cube of food)

The aF4 features a user programmable cold reservoir for storing frozen fish food. There are 5 settings with the left hand side (snowflake side) being the coldest and the right side being the warmest.

Settings: from left to right
❆(Snowflake) * -1℃ to 0.5℃
•(Position 2) * -0℃ to 1.5℃
•(Position 3) * -1.5℃ to 3℃
•(Position 4) * -2.5℃ to 4℃
•(Position 5) * -4℃ to 5.5℃
(above values are approximate, individual units may vary slightly)

Feed Now
The "Feed Now" button is a feed on demand feature. When you press "Feed Now" the aF4 will trigger a single feed cycle dispensing the user selected feed quantity.

Auto-Clean
*Do not activate auto-clean while connected to the aquarium!*
The auto-clean triggers a deep cleaning cycle similar to the descaling function on a espresso machine. You can use plain water or a light vinegar mixture, however for the most effective clean we recommend using our cleaning tablets.

Press and hold the Auto-Clean button until you hear the solenoids clicking open and closed.

Please review our cleaning guide before using the auto-clean function.

The aF4's reservoir holds 200mL of slurry or approximately 50 cubes of food with saltwater dilution.

We have extensively tested the aF4 with cubed frozen fish food and highly recommend loading it with mysis shrimp, brine shrimp, or other similarly sized foods.

The aF4 is capable of feeding chopped sheet food as well, however it is advisable that you monitor your aF4 the first few times you load it with sheet food to confirm that the particle size is small enough to prevent clogging in the aF4.

Slurry Preparation
1. Depending on the consistency of the thawed food, varying levels of dilution are suggested. Fill the reservoir with the desired quantity of high salinity saltwater dilution(1.026 - 1.030). For foods like brine or mysis, 10-20mL is plenty of dilution.

2. Add the desired quantity of food to the reservoir. If using setting 2 or higher, you can place the reservoir into the unit and allow the food to thaw while the aF4 is operating. If using the snowflake ❆ setting or intending to feed the same day you load the aF4, the food must be fully thawed before placing it into the unit.

We highly recommend using freshly made saltwater and pre-thawing at refrigerator temperatures overnight to maximize the freshness inside the reservoir.

For an in-depth guide on food preparation, click here.

The aF4 self cleans between every feed cycle but periodically some maintenance is required to keep the aF4 operating at peak levels.

We recommend at a minimum, doing a couple rinse cycles (outlined in step 2 above) between every reservoir refill. Additionally, this is a good time to scrub the inside of the reservoir, interior of the food intake tube and the portions of the gray and black tubing that enter the aquarium water. The brushes included in our cleaning kit are designed to fit perfectly inside the tubing and between the teeth of the reservoir.

We recommend performing a deep clean on the unit monthly, using our cleaning tablets.

Follow our deep cleaning guide for instructions on how to properly use the cleaning tablets.

The tubing included with the aF4 will last you for approximately 18 months under normal use (single feed daily and regular maintenance; increased usage will accelerate that timeline) Once you're approaching the end of that timeline, you should strongly consider replacing the included tubing. Failure to replace the tubing, near the end of its service life could result in spills or leaks from the aF4.

Replacement tubing is available in our shop and is user replaceable.
View our tubing replacement guide here.

Depending on placement of the aF4, the heatsink will accumulate dust and degrade the cooling power of the aF4 - we recommend inspecting this monthly and cleaning as necessary. Cleaning can be done with the housing on, using a can of compressed air.
In some cases, the housing may need to be removed for a better cleaning of the heatsink - view our guide here.

The aF4 is capable of feeding user selected quantities of food. The measurements are in milliliters.

The options are:
5mL * 10mL * 20mL * 30mL * 50mL
(5mL is just under a cube of food. Approximately equivalent to 65% to 85% of a cube of food)